UnderAbove
by Nightmarish
Summary: The first time it happened, there were no theatrics.  She was simply there one minute and somewhere else the next.
1. One

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I merely play.**

**UnderAbove**

_A story in eleven parts._

**1/11.**

The first time it happened, there were no theatrics.

She was simply there one minute and somewhere else the next. No thunder, or lightning, or dramatic musical swells. She would have at least expected there to be glitter.

On the contrary, Sarah Williams hadn't been expecting much of anything. It was half past three on a lazy Friday afternoon in the middle of May. School was finished for the week and the house was gloriously empty; parents still at work, Toby still at daycare. Sarah's backpack lay forgotten by the front door, and she wasn't anticipating any visitors, or telephone calls, or life altering events; only a ham sandwich, and perhaps a cold glass of milk to wash it down.

So naturally, Sarah took a step towards the kitchen table, and into the Goblin King's throne room.

The atmosphere was loud and chaotic, and so very different from the quiet house Sarah had just left behind. She was momentarily stunned by sensory overload. Small goblins pranced about underfoot chattering loudly and a haze of black feathers seemed to cover everything, but Sarah had eyes only for the Goblin King, who was reclining in the middle of all the mess on the most peculiar throne she had ever seen.

She _might_ have been tempted to self-righteously demand to know what he had done, but Jareth was staring back at her with such slack-jawed surprise that Sarah was immediately certain that he was as shocked as she was by her sudden arrival.

"Sarah?" Jareth swung his legs around and stood in one fluid motion, finding his voice at last.

Sarah smiled in spite of herself as two of the goblins catapulted a third through the air and into Jareth's vacated seat. She could feel the hum of magic on the air, and it was a feeling she hadn't realized she'd been missing in the scant weeks since she'd run the Labyrinth.

"Hello, Goblin King," she greeted politely, because there was really no call to be rude with all of that baby snatching business behind them.

The king's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he took several long-legged steps forward. "What did you do?" he demanded sharply, stopping just in front of her.

"Nothing!" Sarah denied vehemently, fighting the urge to take a step back. "I was just making a sandwich, and then _zap_! Here I am! Well, there was no _zap_," she amended quickly. "I was there and then I was here. I didn't do anything, I swear. I didn't even make a wish."

Jareth stared down at her for a moment longer before rounding on the goblins. "What do you slimy lot know of this?"

"I don't think it was the goblins," Sarah said helpfully. "Last time I heard them running all over the place."

"Not us," several goblins agreed in unison.

"Only take baby goblins," a surprisingly deep-voiced goblin offered.

"Not baby goblins," his companion corrected, stomping on his foot. "Babies to _become _goblins!"

"That's what I said!"

"No it isn't!"

"QUIET!" Jareth interrupted. "You deny any involvement in bringing the girl here?"

"Not Lady Sarah! She'm already a goblin," a small goblin with purple horns informed him.

"I am no such thing!" said Sarah indignantly, a little thrown by the formal address.

"Yes yous is," a smaller, muddy-colored goblin argued, popping up over her shoulder. "_She _says."

"She?" Sarah repeated..

Jareth's expression turned to one of dawning comprehension. He picked the creature up by the collar of its ratty tunic. "The Labyrinth spoke to you?" Jareth demanded, giving the goblin a hard shake. "What did it say? Tell me!"

"Lady is coming back," the goblin babbled. "Lady is coming home! She's Goblin now."

"But I'm not!" Sarah protested. "I'm a human being!"

"Yous belong here so yous must be a goblin," the tiny goblin reasoned, and then bit Jareth's hand. Jareth dropped him in disgust.

"But I don't belong here," said Sarah. "I belong Above." She looked to Jareth for confirmation and was surprised to find that he was staring blankly at the opposite wall. "Goblin King?" No response. Tentatively, she tried his name. "Jareth?"

Jareth blinked and the spell was broken. He looked at her sideways, wearing an expression she couldn't identify.

"Are you all right?" Sarah asked uncertainly.

"I apologize," Jareth said, his voice matching his strange expression. "It seems the Labyrinth took it upon itself to summon you here. I cannot seem to coerce it into telling me why."

"The Labyrinth?" Sarah repeated, surprised. "It's alive?"

"In a kind of way," Jareth agreed, frustration briefly giving way to amusement. "It has a mind of its own, and power, too, but its means to act upon its thoughts and desires are limited."

"Can you send me back?" Sarah asked with mild concern. She wasn't planning on passing up this second chance to explore the Underground, but she had babysitting duties that evening and a four page paper to write by Monday.

Jareth stared down his nose at her. "I am the Goblin King," he said haughtily. "I can do whatever I please."

"Oh, well. That's good then," Sarah said with some relief. She fidgeted in place as a silence fell over the throne room, uncomfortably aware of Jareth's focused stare, and their audience of intently watching goblins. She scuffed at the floor with the toe of her sneaker, waiting for someone to say _something_.

Jareth caved first. "Well?" he said, raising an eyebrow and drawing the syllable out imperiously. Sarah had the feeling he was waiting for her to demand to be returned home immediately, but Sarah wasn't eager to get back to the empty house Above, but she couldn't think of a good reason to convince him to let her stay.

On a whim, she held out the plate she'd been clutching the entire time. "Sandwich?"

Some of the affected drama fell away from Jareth's manner and he looked at her with genuine surprise for the second time that day. Sarah took a moment to inwardly congratulate herself.

"What kind?" he asked curiously.


	2. Two

**2/11.**

The second time it happened was significantly less startling than the first, but perhaps that was only because Sarah shifted from being alone in her bedroom to being alone in the hedge maze. Blinking away sunspots from the bright afternoon light, she turned about in a full circle to get her bearings.

She was not in a part of the maze she recognized (or, more likely, it all looked the same to her mortal vision) but this did not unduly bother her. Ever since her impromptu visit to the Labyrinth last May, she had been secretly hoping for the chance to go back. She was not going to ruin it now by wasting time worrying about how to get home. Sarah was confident that she would eventually come across the Goblin King, who would undoubtedly send her back again.

There was a rustling in the bushes to her left.

"Hello?" Sarah called out experimentally.

A small figure stumbled out of a gap in the hedges, muttering obscenities under his breath. "Damn those goblins…!" In his state of frustration, he didn't notice her.

"Hoggle!" Sarah cried out happily.

The dwarf jumped a good three feet in the air, purse jangling madly at his waist. "What – Sarah? Sarah, is that you?"

"It's me, all right, Hoggle," said Sarah, bending down to give him a hug. Hoggle naturally protested, but only a little. "Oh, it's wonderful to see you."

"Eh, what are yeh doing here?" Hoggle asked, scratching his head. "Not that I'm not happy to see yeh, mind, jus' that if Jareth catches yeh…"

"It's all right," Sarah assured him. "The Goblin King was very polite about the whole situation last time."

"Last time?"

"Oh, Hoggle, there's so much to tell you! And Sir Didymous! And Ludo! Where are they? We must find them at once!" Sarah declared with no small amount of drama. "Oh, this is just so exciting!"


	3. Three

**3/11.**

Sarah sat hunched over her calculus homework at the kitchen table, trying desperately to block out the distractions around her. She adjusted the volume on her walkman, but even Michael Jackson couldn't drown out the noise of a screaming toddler.

"Sarah, could you…?" Karen gestured helplessly towards the stairs with one hand, the other firmly clamped over the end of the telephone. Toby's wails were escalating in volume with every passing second.

Sarah got to her feet with a sigh, and took the stairs two at a time. She scooped Toby out of his crib, grunting slightly at the weight. "Oh, Toby," she sighed. Toby struggled even as he clung to her, tiny fists twisting painfully in her long hair. "Shhh," she whispered soothingly, swaying back and forth. "Shhh, Toby. Calm down. It's all right." He gripped her hair harder, legs kicking against her sides as he screeched into her neck.

Wincing, Sarah managed to untangle one hand and gave him Lancelot to hold instead. Toby's face scrunched up further and he flung the stuffed bear away from him. The ragged toy sailed across the room and hit the Goblin King square in the face.

"Oh my," Sarah exclaimed, eyes wide. She was beginning to get used to these unexpected shifts, but this was the first time anyone else had gotten pulled along, and certainly the first time she'd ever seen _that_ particular expression on Jareth's face.

Toby's wails died away as he realized he was no longer in his bedroom. Sniffling, he stared around curiously.

"The boy-who-should-have-been-a-goblin," Jareth said, composing himself. "Really, Sarah, I'm surprised you allowed him within fifty feet of the Labyrinth after your desperate race to take him away."

Sarah gave him a Look. "You know I have no control over when or where it happens, and no warning when it does."

This was true. Over the past year and a half, she had popped up in the Labyrinth on more than one inconvenient occasion. Once in the middle of a math exam, she had been so startled she dropped her calculator in the Bog of Eternal Stench and nearly fell in herself, and then there was that week when her locker consistently led directly to an oubliette.

Toby's curiosity was beginning to wane, and Sarah recognized the signs that he was preparing to throw another tantrum. Some of her panic must have shown on her face, because Jareth stepped forward, arms extended.

"May I?"

Sarah handed the cranky toddler over readily. Startled by the change of hands holding him, Toby's cries were forestalled and he blinked up at the strangefamiliar man holding him.

Jareth looked down on him with something akin to fondness. "You remind me of the babe…"

What followed was a rollicking musical dance extravaganza that had Sarah laughing as much as Toby. She had never seen this side of the Goblin King and it delighted her.

"You're very good with children," Sarah observed, sometime afterwards as she sat and watched several of the goblins entertain Toby with their antics. "I shouldn't be surprised. I expect you have a lot of experience, in your line of work."

"There aren't as many wish-aways as you think," said Jareth, stretching out his legs in front of him. "Yours was the first summons in over two decades."

Sarah blinked. "Wow. Way to make me feel even more guilty. No one wished a child away in all that time?"

"Plenty of children were wished away, but wishing isn't enough. You have to say the _right_ words, and you have to believe in them."

"But I didn't," Sarah said, shaking her head. "Not really. I didn't believe Toby would actually be taken."

Jareth smiled secretively. "Ah, but you _did_ believe in goblins."

Sarah considered this for a moment, another question beginning to formulate in her mind. "If children only get wished away every few decades, that's not many runners," she pointed out. "Just how many times has the Labyrinth actually been beaten?"

"You are assuming that everyone who wishes away a child attempts to reclaim it," Jareth pointed out. "Many accept my bargain at the beginning and never set foot Underground."

"They just leave their – they don't even _try_?" Sarah said heatedly. "That's horrible!"

"Some children truly _are_ unwanted, Sarah," Jareth said quietly. "They are far better off Underground, I assure you."

Sarah nodded, thinking he was probably right, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling of disgust. She moved to pick up Toby, suddenly desperate to hold him in her arms, to feel his warm skin against hers, to assure herself that he was real and whole and loved.

Jareth shooed the remaining goblins away and gathered the boy up into his own arms. Beginning to grow tired, Toby did not protest as he was passed off once more, and he clung to his sister's neck, eyes shuttering closed.

Sarah met Jareth's eyes over the top of Toby's fair head, and he gave her the smallest of nods. Sarah tried to smile back, but even as she did, the world around her began to fade, and they were back in Toby's bedroom, alone. Sarah laid Toby down and smoothed his hair. It was beginning to darken already. He was growing so quickly. Had it really almost been two whole years since she wished him away?

Turning off the lights, she closed the bedroom door quietly and headed downstairs, back to the real world and her equations.

It wasn't until much later that Sarah realized Jareth had never answered her question.


	4. Four

**4/11.**

The grass in the park scratched pleasantly at the back of Sarah's bare legs and neck as she sprawled luxuriously, gazing up at the sky. A book lay open across her stomach, forgotten in favor of watching the clouds drift lazily by. Midway through August, Sarah was content to spend the final days of summer doing absolutely nothing for as long as possible.

An insect buzzed tinny and high by her ear, but she ignored it and it paid her no mind. A warm breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and Sarah felt her eyelids begin to droop.

When she opened them again, the sky had changed color entirely and there wasn't a cloud in sight.

"What," a familiar voice drawled from a long ways up, "are you doing down there?"

Sarah craned her neck around as far as she could, too comfortable to bother sitting up. She managed to raise an eyebrow in the direction of the Goblin King, who obliged her by leaning forward slightly to peer down at her.

"Cloud gazing," she said, folding her arms behind her head and closing her eyes once more.

"For what purpose?"

"Because they're there. Just for fun."

"And how does it work when your eyes are closed?"

"About as well as it does when there isn't a cloud in the sky," Sarah retorted mildly.

"Isn't there?"

Sarah's eyes fluttered open. Puffy white clouds dotted a brilliant blue sky. She sat up and twisted around. She was back in the park already, and what was more, Jareth was still hovering over her. She blinked, looking at him properly for the first time. He was dressed very casually for a Goblin King. Sarah realized that this was the first time she had seen him Above since the entire fiasco with Toby.

Jareth dropped down to the grass beside her, and leaned back on his hands, looking up. "I do not see the fascination in this activity," he said finally, after several longs minutes of silence.

"Well, you're doing it wrong, for starters," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "You have to be lying down." She demonstrated, falling backwards with a contented sigh. "_Now_ look up."

"Their appearance has not changed," said Jareth, having followed her lead.

"You're not looking at things the right way."

"They are clouds. It will possibly rain later this evening."

"I see a lion," Sarah said, pointing. "See there? He's stretching, and he's got a huge mane. Oh, now he's yawning!" The clouds broke apart and rearranged themselves, subject to some upper wind Sarah couldn't feel. She looked to her left, at the profile of Jareth's upturned face. "Isn't it odd that I'm the one telling _you_ that things aren't always what they look like at first glance?"

"On the contrary," Jareth said, still staring upwards. "That is not a lion at all, but a dragon."

Sarah looked skywards. "Oh!" she gasped, as a dragon's white wings unfurled against the bright sky. It shook itself free from the confines of the other cumulus clouds surrounding it, and took off, soaring in a wide circle above them. It opened its mouth in a silent roar, puffs of whispy cloud-flame illuminated from behind by the sunlight. Sarah looked at Jareth again and stuck out her tongue. "You're cheating."

"I was not aware of any rules," Jareth argued, but there was a smile in his voice. Above them, the cloud dragon wheeled up again and exploded into dazzling sunspots.

"You cheated," Sarah said again, but fondly. She closed her eyes again, the glare of the light too strong. She wriggled down further into the grass, warm and satisfied. She had never imagined the fearsome Goblin King participating in any activity as childish as cloud gazing, but he did it as spectacularly as he did everything else. She smiled to herself at the thought, and at the memory of a dozen other small, unexpected things Jareth had done since she'd known him. Who knew the villain of her childhood stories would become such a good friend?

She thought about posing the question aloud, to see how he would respond, but when she opened her eyes again, he was gone.


	5. Five

**5/11.**

Sarah sank down into the lavender-scented bubbles and closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

She wasn't usually one for bubble baths of any scent, but after another long semester of communal college bathrooms, she felt the need for a long, relaxing soak. Her parents were gone for the afternoon and they had taken Toby with them for a change, so she was unlikely to be disturbed for a good, long time.

Naturally, as soon as this thought crossed her mind, the world shifted, and Sarah found herself spitting out soapsuds in an unfamiliar bathtub in the middle of an unfamiliar bathroom, very much _not_ alone.

Five feet away, Jareth stood in front of a floor length mirror, dressed in nothing but a loose pair of gray pants and a heavy-looking medallion on a chain around his neck.

Sarah would have been grateful that her bathwater made the journey with her, except that Jareth's bathtub was easily three times the size of her own, and the water that had been nearly up to her chin now pooled at her waist. Her entire torso was exposed, save for a quickly dissipating trail of bubbles, which, to judge from the way Jareth was staring at her reflection, wasn't doing much to preserve her modesty.

_Men are all the same_, Sarah thought to herself with mild annoyance. _Human or otherwise_.

She sat up, and with as much dignity as she could muster, crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat pointedly.

Jareth's eyes snapped upwards, and he met her gaze in the mirror with such an intense look that Sarah's breath caught in her throat. A feral smirk spread across his features, all pointed teeth and wicked promises. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah cut him off.

"Goblin King, I guarantee you will live to regret _anything_ that comes out of your mouth," she said imperiously. "Now, send me home at once, before you do something stupid."

For a brief moment, Sarah thought he was going to ignore her, but then she blinked and she was back in her own, full bathtub. She shivered despite the heat of the water, and flicked the lever to drain the tub, standing and reaching for her towel. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling very inclined towards relaxation. She dried off and redressed quickly, but she couldn't quite shake the memory of the hungry look in his eyes, or the sound of his laughter ringing out across the stone floor as he wished her away. Sarah groaned and thudded her forehead against the steamed up mirror.

No, she wasn't feeling very relaxed at all.


	6. Six

**6/11.**

"So, Sarah," Karen said as she passed the rolls, and then the butter, "you must be excited about finishing your last semester!"

"Sure," Sarah said, smiling indulgently at her parents across the dinner table. She helped herself to a piece of steak.

"I can't believe you're graduating so soon," Karen continued, glancing at her husband. "It seems like only yesterday you were graduating high school!"

"Toby, take some broccoli," Robert interjected, passing the dish back to his son, who had tried putting it down unobtrusively.

"It's been long enough," said Sarah, who was privately both dreading and anticipating the conclusion of her schooling. She picked up her fork and knife and began cutting her meat.

"You'll be happy you don't have to take any more tests," Karen said. "I know I was. And all those books! Although, you've always loved reading..."

Sarah tuned her out, taking a large bite of potato, and regretting it when she had to fan her mouth. She took a gulp of milk, and wiped her mouth with her napkin. Her thoughts moved ahead to the summer months that stretched out before her, once she had written her final papers and sat her final exams. Completely open. Unplanned. She would get a job, she supposed. Should she move out? No one had mentioned it to her yet, so they weren't actively trying to get rid of her, but it wasn't like she wanted to live in her parents' house forever. The only problem was, whenever Sarah imagined herself living anywhere else, her mind always drifted to –

"Are you going to eat that anytime soon?"

Sarah looked up at Jareth in surprise. She looked down at her fork, poised in the air halfway to her mouth. Absently, she ate the piece of steak, and for lack of anything better to do with it, shoved the fork in her pocket. They were in the castle library, which wasn't really an appropriate place to be waving dirty cutlery about in. She sank back into her armchair and looked about.

"You'll be wanting dinner, I suppose?" Jareth inquired, preparing to rise from his own seat.

"Oh, don't bother," Sarah said. "I wasn't very hungry anyways. I'm more concerned with what my parents will think of me disappearing from the dinner table!"

Jareth laughed. "Dear Sarah, have you forgotten that I can re-order time?"

"I wasn't sure if that only applied to official Labyrinth business," Sarah said, although she actually had forgotten. "I wouldn't want to be a bother. In fact, if you send me back now, they probably won't even notice."

"Above and Below don't run at the same speed," Jareth said. "It is a trifle to turn back the hands of the clock. You could stay for hours and I could send you back to the exact moment you left."

"Could I?" Sarah asked, perking up. "Stay for hours, I mean." She looked around at the shelves with a hint of longing. Tearing her eyes away from the books, she glanced back at him. "As I said, I'm not really hungry."

Jareth laughed again, because on the contrary, the look in her eyes was _very _hungry indeed, if not for food. He waved his consent, although it wasn't really necessary because Sarah was already on her feet with three books in her grasp.


	7. Seven

**7/11.**

"If you're not busy, I really do need to get back Above as soon as possible," Sarah said apologetically. It had been several months since her last trip to the Underground, and normally she would have been pleased to spend some time visiting, but she had a job interview the following morning that she really _should_ prepare for.

"Of course." Jareth inclined his head, rising to his feet. He stood looking at her.

"What?" Sarah said when he didn't move or speak. "Aren't you going to send me back?"

Jareth frowned. "I just attempted to. For some reason, the spell failed." He conjured a crystal. "I will try again." He tossed the orb into the air. There was a pregnant pause as it fell in a slow arc, before impacting with the stone floor. It shattered.

Nothing happened.

"Well," Sarah said shakily. "_That's_ never happened before."

Jareth's frown deepened. "Something is interfering with my magic. I can't –" He conjured up another crystal and flickered out of existence.

"Right," Sarah told the spot where he had been standing. "I'll just wait here, then, shall I?"

She sank into an ancient looking armchair and twiddled her thumbs. She didn't have to wait long.

As suddenly as he had gone, Jareth reappeared in a cloud of silver glitter. He had changed his clothes somewhere along the way and the effect was somewhat hostile. There were dark streaks in his pale hair, and a long black cloak snapped angrily about his ankles with every step he took.

Sarah scrambled to her feet. "What's wrong? Is your magic all right?"

"It is as I suspected," he informed her tersely. "There is nothing wrong with my magic. I have just successfully transported myself to your apartment and back again. Something is shielding you from my powers."

"The Labyrinth," Sarah guessed immediately.

"Yes," Jareth agreed. He turned sharply and began to pace the room. "This should not be possible. The Labyrinth is sentient, yes, and can be willful when it cares to be, but it would take all of its focus to defy me in such a manner." He looked at her over his shoulder. "But then, I have never known it to attach itself so fiercely to an individual before you."

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked anxiously. "Am I stuck here?"

"My powers have no effect over you while we remain in the Labyrinth," Jareth reminded her with some small amount of annoyance. "I cannot think –"

"What if we weren't _in_ the Labyrinth!" Sarah interrupted. "There's more to the Underground than this maze, surely!"

Comprehension dawned on Jareth's face.

"Come," he commanded, and without waiting for a reaction, grabbed her hand and pulled her stumblingly out of the room.

"Slow down," Sarah gasped, struggling to keep up.

Without the use of magic, it took them several minutes to make their way through the castle and another fifteen at least to reach the Labyrinth-proper past the Goblin City. At Jareth's command, the goblins guarding the city entrance threw the gates open wide and scrambled out of their way. Jareth strode confidently down a path Sarah had never noticed before. She followed closely, but they didn't make it more than twenty yards before they met a dead end.

"This isn't the way," she said in dismay. "We have to turn back."

"This path _should_ lead us directly to the outermost ring," Jareth confided quietly, staring at the brick wall before them. "It has changed."

"Doesn't the Labyrinth change all the time?"

"Not for me," Jareth said stiffly. "I believe the Labyrinth has surmised our plans. It will not make this easy for us."

They turned around and started again, but it seemed as though no matter what direction they chose, their way was blocked before they had even begun. Just when they seemed to be at last making some progress, they rounded a tight corner and the ground dropped out from beneath them. Sarah cried out in surprise and grabbed wildly at Jareth, and they both tumbled down, down, down in a tangle of limbs and bruised egos.

The chute deposited them in a tiny, dimly lit cave. Sarah landed flat on her back with Jareth sprawled somewhere near her feet in the dark. She struggled to get up, and then found the ceiling too low to stand properly anyways. Jareth had to crouch.

"It appears," he said after a moment, "that we are in an oubliette."

"The Labyrinth's full of them," Sarah remembered.

"Fortunately, I know how to access the door." Jareth pulled a crystal from his pocket and held it out, palm up. He directed his attention towards a blank space of wall. In the soft glow of the crystal, a door slowly began to shimmer into existence.

As it solidified, he tucked the crystal away and reached for the doorknob. Light from the space beyond temporarily blinded Sarah as she followed close at Jareth's heels. It soon became obvious, however, that the door did not lead back to the hedgemaze, or indeed, to any other part of the Labyrinth Sarah recognized. In fact –

"Are we in your bedroom?" she said incredulously, looking around.

"It appears so," Jareth confessed with a sigh. "This was not what I intended."

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately," Sarah said with a small huff. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "What am I going to do now? Every time we begin to get anywhere, the Labyrinth will just pull the rug out from under us and we'll have to start all over again. It's pointless!"

"I am at a loss," admitted Jareth, sounding as though it pained him greatly to do so. "However," he amended when he caught sight of her look of dismay, "I do not believe the Labyrinth can keep this up for much longer, and in the meantime, perhaps it can be reasoned with."

"And how long will that take?" Sarah demanded. "We don't even know what it wants. Face it, Jareth, your maze is rebelling!"

"You may stay in one of the guest suites for the duration of your visit," Jareth said stiffly, and turned on his heel. "Follow me."

He swept out of the room and down the hall, moving at such a pace that Sarah had to run to catch up.

She caught hold of his arm and pulled them both to a stop. "I'm sorry," she blurted out.

Jareth looked at her. "What for?" he asked suspiciously.

"All of this," Sarah said, waving her hand about vaguely. She sighed. "Look, I know you don't want me here. I'm sorry I have no control over –"

"What makes you think I do not want you here?" Jareth interrupted.

Sarah looked at him in surprise. "Well, why would you? You could be doing something interesting or important, and instead you have to spend all your time trying to get me out of your hair while the Labyrinth throws a tantrum. I thought you were angry with me."

"I am angry with the Labyrinth," Jareth corrected. "Don't you wish to return home?"

"Well, yes," Sarah admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't like being here. I love the Labyrinth, I just don't like it controlling my life." She sighed again. "I just wish I knew why it doesn't want me to go home."

Jareth wore a curious expression. "There is a suite of guest chambers just down the hall," he said finally. "I will do everything in my power to fix this, but it will take time. Please accept my hospitality in the meantime."

Sarah nodded. "Yes, thank you." A smiled crooked at the corner of her mouth. "You were right, you can be quite generous."

Jareth looked amused. "And you didn't believe me. What a pity."

Whatever tension had arisen between them fled, and they were back to their easy camaraderie. Sarah smiled to herself as she followed Jareth down the remainder of the corridor. She had never realized how important his friendship had become to her.

In the doorway ahead of her, Jareth stopped unexpectedly and, not paying attention, Sarah kept walking.

"Oomf," she said, falling back. In front of her, Jareth didn't move. "Jareth?"

Silently, he moved aside so she could see past him. Instead of leading to a guest room as she expected, beyond the doorway was a perfect replica of the Goblin King's own bedroom, despite the fact that they had left it several turns away down the hall.

Jareth pushed past her and strode quickly back in the direction they had come from. He stopped in front of a plain wooden door and yanked it open. He slammed it shut immediately, but Sarah managed to catch a glimpse of another identical bedchamber.

"That door should lead to a broom closet," he informed her tightly.

"So you don't actually have three identical bedrooms scattered across the castle?" Sarah confirmed.

Jareth shook his head sharply. "The doors are all opening onto the same room. This is the Labyrinth's doing."

Sarah's brows furrowed. "But why – " She stopped, comprehension dawning. "_Ohhhh_."

"What is it?" Jareth said impatiently.

Sarah bit her lip before speaking. "I think I know why it keeps bringing me back," she said, torn between crying and laughing.

"Well?" Jareth demanded. The air surrounding him crackled with angry electricity.

Humor won out, and Sarah grinned impishly. "I think the Labyrinth is trying to set us up."

If she expected a response, she was disappointed. Jareth stared at her blankly. "Set us up for what?"

"I mean, it wants us to go out."

"On the contrary, it clearly wants us to stay in!" Jareth denied.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of – the Labyrinth thinks we should become _lovers_."

Jareth looked at her, nonplussed, and this time, she really did burst out laughing.

o

o

o

Sarah finally convinced the Labyrinth to provide her with her own suite of rooms (although a connecting door to Jareth's quarters stubbornly remained) on the promise that she would stay peacefully for a decent visit.

The Labyrinth's idea of a decent visit was closer to centuries than to Sarah's idea of a long weekend, but Jareth assured her the Labyrinth wasn't strong enough to resist him for that long.

"One week," Sarah warned the ancient maze fiercely. "That's it. _One week._"

It was a month and a half before the Labyrinth finally released her.


	8. Eight

**8/11.**

Sarah fiddled with the napkin in her lap, trying – with little success – to feign interest in what her date was saying. She wondered if excusing herself to use the bathroom for the third time since they'd been seated would be too obvious. She wished the waiter would hurry up and bring the damn check.

Just as she was about to lose it completely and suggest they walk out without paying, she felt a familiar tingle shoot down her spine.

"Bathroom," Sarah blurted out, lurching to her feet. Before her date could do more than stare at her blankly, she grabbed her purse and took off at a dead run. Ducking out of sight around the corner, she nearly collided head on with a busboy carrying a tray heavy-laden with clean plates and cutlery, and would have, too, except that in the blink of an eye she was gone. The busboy's good fortune did not extend Underground, however, and Sarah, missing one obstacle, found herself facing another. Unable to slow down in time, she plowed straight into something large, feathery, and covered in goblins.

"You do enjoy making a dramatic entrance," an amused voice observed from somewhere above her. A black gloved hand was thrust into her line of vision. Dazedly, Sarah accepted the assistance and was pulled to her feet in one effortless motion. "It took them all day to build that tower," Jareth continued, surveying the mess surrounding them.

Pots and pans, pieces of wood, knobbly things she couldn't identify, and innumerable other varieties of riff raff littered the floor around her. Small goblins shrieked and rolled about in the chaos, dismayed at the demise of their structure. Sarah winced. "Sorry." She took a closer look. "What was it for, exactly?"

Jareth waved this away. "I have no idea." He lazily extended a foot to trip one goblin that had climbed to its feet and leapt at Sarah, presumably in revenge. Kicking several more to the side, he led Sarah away from the melee. "Still, I think it would be best if we made ourselves scarce for a time."

Sarah sighed happily. "Oh, I've missed this place," she said fondly, running one hand along the wall as they walked, the magic-drenched stones buzzing pleasantly beneath her fingertips. It had been nearly six months since her last unscheduled visit to the Underground, the longest she'd been away since she was sixteen. She had begun to think the Labyrinth had given up on her.

Jareth glanced sideways at her, and paused. "You are wearing a dress," he observed, looking her up and down carefully.

"I do dress nicely on occasion," Sarah informed him tartly. "It's hardly _my_ fault that you always seem to catch me at my worst. I don't exactly have much warning before these little visits. Besides," she amended with a very pointed look, "you've seen me in a dress before."

"I seem to recall there being more fabric," Jareth said mildly, his gaze lingering on the expanse of bare leg Sarah's dress revealed.

Sarah fought the urge to tug at her hem. "If you _must_ know, I was on a date."

Something hardened in the Goblin King's expression. "I see," he said flatly. His voice was completely emotionless. "I assume you wish for me to send you back immediately?"

"Good god, no!" Sarah said with feeling. "If I have to spend one more _second_ listening to that man drone on about insurance policies, I will not be held responsible for my actions. In fact, if you send me back immediately, I will never speak to you again."

Jareth laughed loudly, and Sarah spun around, arms outstretched, her too-short dress flaring up around her hips, but she was giddy from the magic on the air, and she had missed her Labyrinth, and she didn't really care anyways. She spun again, faster, and Jareth had to catch her before she careened into the wall. She fell against him, stumbling in her high heels, laughter matching his own and it was several moments before she had calmed down enough to walk on her own. For one bright, shining moment, she almost couldn't stop herself from blurting out that she knew he had summoned her this time on his own, and half a dozen times before, because his magic felt different from the Labyrinth's, like a shiver down her back. But he never said anything, so she pretended not to know, and wondered where the game would lead.

They continued on in an amiable fashion, and because it was such a nice night, they meandered out onto one of the larger terraces overlooking the city. Stars that were as familiar to Sarah as her own constellations Above stretched out across the black-black sky, and the soothing hum of _magic_ grew louder in Sarah's heart as she leaned against the railing and looked down at the tiny, flickering lights of the Goblin City, and the shadowed angles and curves of the maze beyond, and she wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to stay there forever.


	9. Nine

**9/11.**

Sarah drifted between dreaming and consciousness, distantly aware of a weight across her middle and a solid warmth against her back. Half asleep, she shifted experimentally, but found herself firmly held in place by the arm around her waist. She realized that she must have slept through the shift entirely.

There was a movement behind her.

"Go back to sleep," Jareth murmured low in her ear. "I'll send you home in the morning."

"I have work," Sarah reminded him sleepily. "I need to get up early."

"You should quit."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can," he rumbled against the back of her neck. Shifting, he threw a leg over hers and curled in tighter around her. "Now stop fidgeting."

"Sorry," Sarah whispered back, but his breathing had already evened out, indicating that he had fallen asleep.

She knew she ought to wake him up and demand he take her back at once because it was incredibly impertinent of the Labyrinth to make such bold statements in the middle of the night, or at the very least, try to reclaim her limbs for herself, but she was warm and comfortable, and already her eyes were beginning to close.

When her alarm went off the next morning, she was back in her own bed in her apartment, alone.


	10. Ten

**10/11.**

The sudden downpour was so unexpected that Sarah stood in shock for several drenching seconds before collecting her wits.

In front of her, the Labyrinth gate swung open.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," Sarah said, finding her voice at last. She had really thought the Labyrinth was beginning to come around, because her last several visits had been nothing but pleasant, and always occurred at convenient moments when she was kind of hoping for them anyways. This…this was not nice at all.

Lightning forked the sky in response.

"Jareth?" Sarah called hopefully. No reply. "Hoggle? Anybody?"

Thunder boomed loudly overhead, and another crack of lightning flashed a little too close for comfort.

"Fine," said Sarah, and looked down at her high heeled shoes. "Well, feet, better start walking."

It was slow going in the heels, and the rain made the path slippery. She had explored much of the inner Labyrinth over the years, but the maze had never allowed her to reach the outermost tier, so she really had no idea what would be the fastest route to the castle. She started out the way she'd gone originally, all those years ago, but when she reached the hidden opening by the worm's den, she went left on a whim. She didn't believe the Labyrinth would allow her to come to any serious harm, and she was feeling extremely ornery.

Much to her surprise, the path seemed rather tame. Trees grew out of the wetly glittering walls, arching overhead to create a semi-enclosed tunnel. Some of the rain was blocked out by the foliage, but it was much harder to see where she was going in the overcast, rain-drenched gloom. It didn't seem to make a difference, however. So far as Sarah could tell, the path continued on straight as an arrow.

And it did, until it ended abruptly in a wall. There was a single door. Sarah reached for the knob, and then paused.

She brushed the rainwater out of her eyes and glanced behind her, but nothing had changed. She frowned, and turned back to the door. Something wasn't right. In the Labyrinth, you were constantly forced to make choices: up, down; left, right. There was never only one option.

With a sense of foreboding, Sarah gave the door a firm push and stepped through.

Sarah knew the Labyrinth well enough by this point to know not to take anything for granted, and so was used to stepping through a door or a hole or an opening in the air and finding out the world was entirely different on the other side, but she was still the slightest bit surprised to find herself not in another part of the maze, but inside the castle itself. And to be more precise, if she was not mistaken, inside a broom closet on the third floor, to judge from the feel of things.

Pushing several mops out of the way, she found the doorknob in the dark and stumbled out into the dimly lit corridor beyond. She stepped in a bucket and lost her footing, and with a yelp of surprise, she tumbled to the floor in a tangle of mops and brooms.

Feeling equal parts perplexed and exhausted, Sarah lay still for a moment, resting with her cheek pressed against the cold stone floor. She was freezing, and wet, and uncomfortable, but she couldn't bring herself to move just yet. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

Finally, she pushed herself to her feet and set off with a purpose, knowing Jareth's habits well enough to guess where he'd be. A light under the door told her that her guess was correct, so she lifted her chin high and banged the door open dramatically.

"Goblin King, I _demand_ you have words with your Labyrinth," she declared haughtily, tossing her wet hair over her shoulder.

Jareth rose from his seat by the window where he had been watching the storm.

"Sarah?"

"Jareth, this is getting ridiculous," she told him, wishing she had his ability to change clothes at the snap of his fingers. She was dripping all over the rug.

"Why are you wet?" he demanded. "What were you thinking, going out in this weather?"

"Excuse me?" Sarah said in disbelief. "I was perfectly happy and dry until the Labyrinth decided to dump me outside the main gates in the middle of a thunderstorm! Honestly, Jareth, it wasn't my idea of _fun_."

"Don't be childish," Jareth said sharply.

"I'm not," Sarah insisted, bewildered by his sudden shift in demeanor. "I'm just – I guess I'm just getting a little tired of all this," she said finally, not feeling particularly charitable towards the Labyrinth at the moment.

Jareth's lips thinned. "I see."

"I mean, really!" Sarah continued, gaining fervor. "This was fine when I _was_ a child, but now it's beginning to get in the way! I'm paranoid I'll shift during work, I can't keep a boyfriend because I never have any time, and there's always this huge _secret_, not to mention I nearly set my apartment on fire last time because I forgot I left the iron plugged in…" She flung herself into an armchair, uncaring that her wet clothes were soaking the cushions.

"I did not realize you felt so strongly," Jareth said, his face unreadable.

"It's just so unfair!" Sarah exclaimed.

Jareth's expression twisted into something ugly. "I am sorry you find the Underground so distasteful. Might I remind you, _I_ am not responsible for any of this."

"I know you're not," Sarah said, calming down slightly. "I _do_ love the Underground, and of course it's lovely to visit Hoggle and Sir Didymous and Ludo, but these little trips are becoming altogether too frequent!"

"Of course, how could I forget about Hoggle and Sir Didymous and Ludo?" Jareth asked rhetorically, and now there was a definite bite to his voice. "I shall summon them at once, so you won't be bored any longer."

"What?" said Sarah. "Don't be ridiculous, it's pouring! You don't have to entertain me, you can just send me back Above."

"I am not some trans-dimensional ferryman!" Jareth snapped. "I happen to be extremely busy at the moment – I can't be expected to drop everything at the snap of _your_ fingers!

"I don't expect that!" Sarah yelled back. "What are you talking about? And busy? You were watching the _rain_ Jareth! I hardly think your kingdom is going to fall apart in the thirty seconds it takes to send me –"

" – Above," she finished, her voice ringing, loudloudloud in the silence of her empty apartment. She looked around in dismay. "Oh," she said in a small voice, anger evaporating like wisps of smoke against the night sky. Her clothes dripped wetly onto the carpet. She felt like she was going to throw up. "_Oh_."


	11. Eleven

**11/11.**

Sarah fumbled with her car keys, buttoning her coat one handedly as she tried to extricate them from her purse with clumsy, gloved fingers. She slipped slightly on her parents' sidewalk, and braced herself against the car.

Something made her pause, and she looked up at the sky. Exhaling, she watched her breath hang in the air. It had been snowing steadily for the past week, and it looked like another storm was on the horizon. Something tugged at the edge of her thoughts, but she shook it away. A flutter of wings in the treetop outside her old bedroom window made her look again. Her breath caught in her throat as a barn owl swooped out of the tree and wheeled away towards the woods.

Sarah didn't stop to think. She dropped her purse and ran, skidding down the icy driveway and out into the street. One eye trained on the sky, she raced towards the park, half-buttoned coat flapping around her legs. Her hair streamed out behind her like a dark banner against the snowy world around her, and the cold air burned her face and lungs. The owl swooped low, and disappeared at the edge of the tree line, camouflaged by the stark pattern of brown-black tree branches against the white-white sky.

Sarah burst through the low brambles in a flurry of snapping twigs. Winter had opened up the forest, but the deep snow slowed her steps, and the bare branches created an optical illusion. It was hard to judge depth, and everything looked the same.

"Jareth!" she tried to shout, but the air caught in her chest and it came out cracked and breathless. She stumbled to a halt, looking around wildly. She tried again. "Jareth!"

Her vision shifted and the Goblin King materialized in front of her, feathered cloak emerging out of the tangled, snow-covered branches so smoothly he might have been standing in front of her the entire time. She had to look in just the right way, or he would blend into the trees entirely. His hair was nearly white, paler than she had ever seen it before.

"Jareth?" Sarah said softly.

"Sarah," Jareth said. His voice was barely above a whisper, but the sound resonated in the silent, snow-muffled world.

"I –" She stopped, swayed. Her world spun at the edges. "I –" She breathed in sharply, closed her eyes, opened them again. _I'm sorry_, she didn't say.

A hundred unspoken truths hung suspended between them like glass orbs against a bright white sky.

"Why?" she said, because it was the only syllable that summed up everything she couldn't say.

He looked at her, and it was the most open expression she had ever seen him wear.

"I can't do this anymore, Sarah. I can't watch you leave."

Sarah licked cracked lips. Gravity threatened to disobey. She nearly cried, but then thought better of it. "So ask me to stay."

They stared at each other in silence across the frozen clearing. The entire world stopped with them, frozen and silent under a blanket of snow. Waiting.

"Stay," Jareth breathed.

"All right." Sarah smiled, and it was as though the sun had suddenly broken through the clouds on a rainy day. "All right."

She took a step forward and so did he, and she pulled his face down, cold lips meeting in a desperate kiss, and one minute they were in the silent, snowy woods, and the next –

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